In Closing Arguments, Lawyers Paint Mckinney As Hero, Liar

March 11, 1998|By Michael Kilian, Washington Bureau.

FT. BELVOIR, Va. — Attorneys for former Sergeant Major of the Army Eugene McKinney denounced his six accusers as "liars, cheats" and women of "bad character" Tuesday as each side made closing arguments in his sexual-misconduct court-martial.

The eight-member jury is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday.

McKinney, once the highest-ranking enlisted man or woman in the Army, faces a possible 55 1/2 years in prison on 19 counts of sexual harassment, abuse, adultery, assault and misuse of authority.

Because of his high position and 1997 appointment to a top-level Army commission studying sexual misconduct in the service, McKinney's case is considered the most important of the sex scandals plaguing the Army.

His case also has racial overtones. He is the only African-American to achieve the top enlisted position. All of his accusers are white.

In his closing argument, Charles Gittins, McKinney's civilian lawyer, hailed the 29-year decorated veteran as a success story who "gave life to Dr. Martin Luther King's dream."

"The stakes are very high in this case," Gittins said. "You must be very sure before you consign this fine soldier, this outstanding soldier, to history as a villain."

Gittins attacked McKinney's accusers with a vehemence unusual even in this bellicose five-week trial. He accused them of sexual misconduct of their own, of deliberately lying under oath and of being part of a government conspiracy "to get Sergeant Major of the Army McKinney."

Gittins, who earlier in his career successfully defended one of the prominent figures in the Navy's Tailhook sexual-abuse scandal, attacked one woman accuser, Navy Petty Officer Johnna Vinson, as a liar who wanted to destroy McKinney's career because of the threat he posed to her career.

The defense lawyer contended Vinson feared McKinney would inform her superiors that she "rubbed her arms (and) leg against Sgt. Maj. McKinney" and repeatedly told a dirty joke.

Gittins also charged that a woman Army major who accepted immunity in return for testifying against McKinney was guilty of grabbing a male soldier's buttocks in a bar and committing adultery.

He also said that Sgt. Christine Fetrow, who is responsible for

10 of the 19 charges against McKinney, deliberately lied to the jury, saying McKinney attacked her near the Lincoln Memorial on a day when Washington was hit by a storm of hurricane proportions.

In his closing remarks, chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Child praised the women as victims who "had the guts and moral courage to come forward and wait it out," knowing attacks would be made on them by McKinney and his powerful friends in the Army establishment.

"That's what the system is here for," Child said. "These women have totally told the truth. They know he is guilty of each and every specificity and charge."

McKinney "rose to the highest (enlisted) level in the Army. He has a reputation to uphold. He has a marriage to maintain," Child said. "He has clear motivation to not tell you the truth."

He emphasized the similar pattern of McKinney's alleged misconduct, noting that the sergeant major made a point of impressing each woman with his power and his sexual prowess with almost the same words.

McKinney also tried to make each victim feel guilty for arousing him sexually and sought sympathy from each over the death of his son and only child to "soften them up" for seduction, Child said.

Character apparently will be a large issue in the jury's deliberations. In his instructions to the panel of four officers and four sergeants major, military judge Col. Ferdinand Clervi said they may use their judgments of McKinney's or the witnesses' characters as a factor in determining doubt over testimony or guilt.

Under military rules, only six of the eight need to agree on guilt for a conviction. Two of the jurors are female officers, and one is a black major.